Shoprite sales edge forward
Food retailer declines 2% after trading update shows total turnover rose just 10.4% in ‘challenging’ conditions
The Shoprite share price slumped almost 2% after the company released a trading update that pointed to a disappointing performance in the six months to July 2 2017. Although the South African operations achieved a credible increase in volumes, supermarkets elsewhere appear to have wiped out much of their strong first-half performance. The trading update prompted one analyst to remark that it seemed former CEO Whitey Basson had timed his departure perfectly. Basson, who had headed the group for 37 years, retired in December. Retail analyst Syd Vianello said that compared with recent trading updates and results from other retailers Shoprite had done well to report a real, albeit small, increase in sales in SA. “This is likely to have been sufficient to secure Shoprite an increase in market share.” The group said on Tuesday that total turnover had increased 10.4% to about R140.7bn for the 12-month period. However like-for-like turnover was up just 5.8%. At the halfway stage, the group ...
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